WO2016157700A1

WO2016157700A1 - Control apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2016157700A1
Application number: PCT/JP2016/000913
Authority: WO
Inventors: 徹治光田
Original assignee: 株式会社デンソー
Priority date: 2015-03-27
Filing date: 2016-02-22
Publication date: 2016-10-06
Also published as: US20180003123A1; JP6398834B2; US10036343B2; DE112016001437T5; JP2016186290A

Abstract

This control apparatus is for an internal combustion engine (100) having an injector (27) for directly injecting fuel into a combustion chamber (46) of a cylinder (42), and a spark plug (28) for igniting mixed air containing the fuel injected by the injector; the control apparatus being provided with an air/fuel ratio acquisition unit (11) for acquiring the air/fuel ratio of the mixed air in the combustion chamber, a nitrogen oxide concentration acquisition unit (12) for acquiring the nitrogen oxide concentration of combustion gas discharged from the internal combustion engine, and a stratification degree estimation unit (16) for estimating a stratification degree, which is the degree to which mixed air at or below a prescribed air/fuel ratio determined in advance is distributed in the vicinity of the spark plug. The stratification degree estimation unit estimates the stratification degree on the basis of the air/fuel ratio acquired by the air/fuel ratio acquisition unit and the nitrogen oxide concentration acquired by the nitrogen oxide concentration acquisition unit.

Description

Control device

Cross-reference of related applications

This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2015-67457 filed on March 27, 2015, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

The present disclosure relates to a control device for an internal combustion engine having an injector that directly injects fuel into a combustion chamber of a cylinder, and an ignition plug that ignites an air-fuel mixture containing fuel injected by the injector.

In recent internal combustion engines, combustion control is becoming more sophisticated and complicated. For example, an internal combustion engine that burns an air-fuel mixture in a lean burn state in a combustion chamber of a cylinder is widely used. By maintaining the combustion of the fuel in the lean burn state, the fuel efficiency of the internal combustion engine can be improved.

As one form of combustion in the lean burn state, what is called stratified combustion is known. In the stratified combustion, a rich air-fuel mixture is distributed in the vicinity of the spark plug, while the air-fuel mixture is ignited and burned in a state where a lean air-fuel mixture is distributed in the vicinity thereof. In such a distribution, the air-fuel mixture becomes a lean and difficult-to-combust air-fuel ratio when considered in the entire combustion chamber, but becomes a sufficiently combustible air-fuel ratio when considered only in the vicinity of the spark plug. Although stratified combustion can contribute to improvement in fuel consumption, there is a problem that nitrogen oxide and black smoke are likely to be generated with combustion when the distribution of the air-fuel mixture becomes inappropriate.

In order to solve such a problem, the following Patent Document 1 describes a control device that estimates a stratified combustion degree, which is a distribution tendency of a mixture of a combustible air-fuel ratio in a combustion chamber. The control device detects the air-fuel ratio from the combustion gas discharged when the internal combustion engine is performing stratified combustion, and estimates the stratified combustion degree based on the waveform of the air-fuel ratio. Further, the control device adjusts the fuel injection timing based on the estimated stratified combustion degree, and controls so that the stratified combustion degree is maintained at an appropriate level.

JP 2002-54492 A

However, the control device described in Patent Document 1 has a low estimation accuracy of the mixture distribution in the combustion chamber. For this reason, the distribution cannot be maintained appropriately, and there is a risk that nitrogen oxides and the like generated with stratified combustion will increase.

An object of the present disclosure is to provide a control device that can estimate with high accuracy the degree of stratification, which is the degree to which an air-fuel mixture having a predetermined air-fuel ratio or less is distributed in the vicinity of a spark plug.

A control device according to an aspect of the present disclosure is a control device for an internal combustion engine that includes an injector that directly injects fuel into a combustion chamber of a cylinder, and an ignition plug that ignites an air-fuel mixture containing fuel injected by the injector. An air-fuel ratio acquisition unit for acquiring the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber, a nitrogen oxide concentration acquisition unit for acquiring the nitrogen oxide concentration of the combustion gas discharged from the internal combustion engine, and a predetermined air-fuel ratio set in advance A stratification degree estimator that estimates the degree of stratification, which is the degree to which the following air-fuel mixture is distributed in the vicinity of the spark plug, and the stratification degree estimator includes the air-fuel ratio and nitrogen oxides acquired by the air-fuel ratio acquisition part The degree of stratification is estimated based on the nitrogen oxide concentration acquired by the concentration acquisition unit.

In the present disclosure, the stratification degree is estimated based on not only the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber but also the nitrogen oxide concentration of the combustion gas discharged from the internal combustion engine. That is, as a result of the stratified combustion, the nitrogen oxide concentration of the combustion gas may increase. In the present disclosure, the stratification degree is estimated based on the nitrogen oxide concentration. Therefore, according to the present disclosure, it is possible to estimate the stratification degree with high accuracy.

According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a control device that can estimate the degree of stratification, which is the degree to which the air-fuel mixture equal to or lower than a predetermined air-fuel ratio is distributed in the vicinity of the spark plug with high accuracy.

The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawing
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an ECU according to an embodiment of the present disclosure and an engine to be controlled. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the distribution of the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber of FIG. FIG. 3 is a graph showing the relationship between the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture in homogeneous combustion and the nitrogen oxide concentration of the combustion gas produced by homogeneous combustion, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the nitrogen oxide concentration acquired by the nitrogen oxide concentration acquisition unit in FIG. 1 and the factors that affect the nitrogen oxide concentration. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing executed by the ECU of FIG. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of calculating the stratification degree of the air-fuel mixture, FIG. 7 is a graph showing the relationship between the nitrogen oxide concentration difference of the combustion gas and the stratification degree of the air-fuel mixture.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In order to facilitate the understanding of the description, the same constituent elements in the drawings will be denoted by the same reference numerals as much as possible, and redundant description will be omitted.

The ECU 10 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIG. The ECU 10 controls an in-cylinder injection engine (internal combustion engine) 100 mounted on a vehicle (not shown). First, a schematic configuration of the engine 100 will be described.

The engine 100 has a cylinder block 41 made of cast iron. The cylinder block 41 has a cylindrical cylinder 42 formed therein. Although a multi-cylinder spark ignition reciprocating engine is assumed as the engine 100, only one cylinder 42 is shown in FIG. 1 for convenience of explanation.

A piston 43 is accommodated in the cylinder 42. The piston 43 can reciprocate within the cylinder 42. A crankshaft that is an output shaft (not shown) is rotated by reciprocating movement of the piston 43 in the cylinder 42.

Further, a cylinder head 45 is fixed to the upper end surface of the cylinder block 41. A combustion chamber 46 is formed between the cylinder head 45 and the upper surface of the piston 43.

The cylinder head 45 is formed with an intake port 47 and an exhaust port 48 that open to the combustion chamber 46. The intake port 47 and the exhaust port 48 are configured to be opened and closed by an intake valve 21 and an exhaust valve 22 driven by

cams

21a and 22a, respectively.

A variable valve timing mechanism (not shown) is attached to each of the intake valve 21 and the exhaust valve 22, and the opening / closing timing thereof can be adjusted.

The intake pipe 47 is connected to the intake port 47. Intake pipe 23 guides air taken from the outside of the vehicle to intake port 47 of engine 100. An exhaust pipe 24 is connected to the exhaust port 48. The exhaust pipe 24 guides the combustion gas discharged from each cylinder 42 to the outside of the vehicle.

The intake pipe 23 is provided with a throttle valve 29 and a throttle opening sensor 31. The throttle valve 29 is an electronically controlled on-off valve whose opening degree is adjusted by an actuator such as a DC motor. By changing the opening of the throttle valve 29, the flow rate of the air guided to the intake port 47 can be adjusted. The throttle opening sensor 31 detects the opening and movement (opening fluctuation) of the throttle valve 29. The throttle opening sensor 31 is electrically connected to the ECU 10 and transmits a signal corresponding to the detected value to the ECU 10. In the present disclosure, “electrically connected” does not mean to be limited to a state where they are connected by wire, but may include a state where they can communicate with each other wirelessly.

A surge tank 23 a is provided in the intake pipe 23 on the downstream side of the throttle valve 29. The passage area of the surge tank 23a is larger than that of the intake pipe 23 before and after the surge tank 23a. By providing the surge tank 23a in the intake pipe 23, intake pulsation and intake interference can be prevented.

In the exhaust pipe 24, an air-fuel ratio sensor 32 and a NOx sensor 33 are provided in a collector part 24a that is a part for collecting combustion gas discharged from each cylinder 42. The air-fuel ratio sensor 32 is a device that detects the oxygen concentration of the combustion gas flowing through the exhaust pipe 24. The NOx sensor 33 is a device that detects the nitrogen oxide concentration of the combustion gas flowing through the exhaust pipe 24. Each of the air-fuel ratio sensor 32 and the NOx sensor 33 transmits a signal corresponding to the detected value to the ECU 10.

An injector 27 is attached to the combustion chamber 46 in the cylinder 42. The injector 27 is an electromagnetically driven actuator that is supplied into the combustion chamber 46 by directly injecting gasoline as fuel. Here, for the sake of convenience, only the injector 27 provided in one cylinder 42 is illustrated, but such an injector 27 is provided for each cylinder 42.

Furthermore, an in-cylinder pressure sensor 34 and a spark plug 28 are attached to the combustion chamber 46. The in-cylinder pressure sensor 34 is a device that detects the pressure in the combustion chamber 46. The spark plug 28 is a device that applies a high voltage at a predetermined ignition timing based on an instruction from the ECU 10 and thereby ignites the air-fuel mixture.

In the intake stroke of the engine 100 as described above, the intake valve 21 is opened and the pressure in the combustion chamber 46 is lowered by the lowering of the piston 43, and air is sucked into the combustion chamber 46 through the intake pipe 23. Is done. At this time, fuel is injected from the injector 27 into the combustion chamber 46. The injected fuel is mixed with the air sucked into the combustion chamber 46 to become an air-fuel mixture.

Further, in the compression stroke of the engine 100, the intake valve 21 is closed and the air-fuel mixture is compressed as the piston 43 rises. At this time, fuel is injected from the injector 27 into the combustion chamber 46. The amount of fuel injected from the injector 27 in this compression stroke is smaller than that injected in the intake stroke. The air-fuel mixture is ignited and burned by the spark plug 28 in the combustion stroke of the engine 100. The combustion gas generated by the combustion of the air-fuel mixture is discharged from the combustion chamber 46 to the exhaust pipe 24 by the opening operation of the exhaust valve 22 in the exhaust stroke of the engine 100.

Next, the ECU 10 will be described. The ECU 10 is partially or entirely configured by an analog circuit or a digital processor. In any case, in order to fulfill the function of outputting a control signal based on the received signal, the ECU 10 includes a functional control block.

FIG. 1 shows the ECU 10 as a functional control block diagram. Note that the software module incorporated in the analog circuit or digital processor constituting the ECU 10 does not necessarily have to be divided into the control blocks shown in FIG. 1, and may be configured to function as a plurality of control blocks. Of course, it may be further subdivided. As long as the processing can be executed, the actual configuration inside the ECU 10 can be appropriately changed by those skilled in the art.

The ECU 10 is electrically connected to various sensors such as the throttle opening sensor 31 and various actuators such as the injector 27. Further, the ECU 10 includes an air-fuel ratio acquisition unit 11, a nitrogen oxide concentration acquisition unit 12, a pressure acquisition unit 13, a collation data creation unit 14, a combustion gas temperature calculation unit 15, a stratification degree estimation unit 16, and a storage. A unit 17, a stratified combustion mode execution unit 18, and a homogeneous combustion mode execution unit 19.

The air-fuel ratio acquisition unit 11 is a part that acquires the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber 46 by performing a predetermined calculation based on a signal received from the air-fuel ratio sensor 32. Specifically, the air-fuel ratio acquisition unit 11 acquires the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber 46 based on the oxygen concentration of the combustion gas generated by the combustion in the combustion chamber 46. The nitrogen oxide concentration acquisition unit 12 acquires the nitrogen oxide concentration of the combustion gas flowing through the exhaust pipe 24 by performing a predetermined calculation based on a signal received from the NOx sensor 33. The pressure acquisition unit 13 acquires a pressure in the combustion chamber 46 by performing a predetermined calculation based on a signal received from the in-cylinder pressure sensor 34.

Based on the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber 46 acquired by the air-fuel ratio acquisition unit 11 and the nitrogen oxide concentration of the combustion gas acquired by the nitrogen oxide concentration acquisition unit 12, the verification data creation unit 14 This is the part that creates collation data. The combustion gas temperature calculation unit 15 is a part that calculates the temperature of the combustion gas in the combustion chamber 46 based on the pressure in the combustion chamber 46 acquired by the pressure acquisition unit 13. The stratification degree estimation unit 16 calculates the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber 46 acquired by the air-fuel ratio acquisition unit 11, the nitrogen oxide concentration of the combustion gas acquired by the nitrogen oxide concentration acquisition unit 12, and the combustion gas temperature calculation Based on the temperature of the combustion gas in the combustion chamber 46 calculated by the unit 15, the stratification degree of the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber 46 is estimated. The storage unit 17 is a part that stores the collation data created by the collation data creation unit 14.

The stratified combustion mode execution unit 18 is a part that executes a stratified combustion mode, which is an aspect of combustion of the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber 46. In the stratified combustion mode, the air-fuel mixture is burned in a state where the stratification degree of the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber 46 is equal to or greater than a threshold value. Specifically, the stratified combustion mode execution unit 18 appropriately adjusts the amount of fuel injected by the injector 27, the injection timing, the number of injections, the pressure, the ignition energy of the spark plug 28, the ignition timing, the number of ignitions, and the like. While the stratification degree of the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber 46 is in a state equal to or higher than the threshold value, the air-fuel mixture is combusted.

The homogeneous combustion mode execution unit 19 is a part that executes a homogeneous combustion mode that is one mode of combustion of the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber 46. In the stratified combustion mode, the air-fuel mixture is burned in a state where the stratification degree of the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber 46 is less than a threshold value. Specifically, the homogeneous combustion mode execution unit 19 appropriately adjusts the amount of fuel injected by the injector 27, the injection timing, the number of injections, the pressure, the ignition energy of the spark plug 28, the ignition timing, the number of ignitions, etc. A state in which the stratification degree of the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber 46 is less than the threshold value is made, and the air-fuel mixture is homogeneously combusted.

Subsequently, the stratification degree of the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber 46, the homogeneous combustion, and the stratified combustion will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 illustrates three states in which the stratification degree of the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber 46 is different from each other.

FIG. 2 (A) shows a state where the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture is substantially uniform in the combustion chamber 46. The combustion in which the air-fuel mixture in this state is ignited by the spark plug 28 and is generated is called homogeneous combustion.

FIG. 3 is an example of a graph showing the relationship between the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture in the homogeneous combustion and the nitrogen oxide concentration of the combustion gas generated by the homogeneous combustion, and corresponds to the collation data. The nitrogen oxide concentration of the combustion gas becomes maximum when the air-fuel ratio of the mixture is about 14.7, which is the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio. Further, as the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture increases or decreases from the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio, the nitrogen oxide concentration of the combustion gas tends to decrease.

FIG. 2B shows that the air-fuel ratio is distributed in the first region 461 in the vicinity of the spark plug 28 in the combustion chamber 46, and the air-fuel ratio is distributed in the second region 462 around the first region 461. Indicates a state where a large air-fuel mixture is distributed. In this state, the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture in the first region 461 is about 13, and the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture in the second region 462 is about 18.

In FIG. 2C, in the combustion chamber 46, the air-fuel mixture having a small air-fuel ratio is distributed in the first region 461 in the vicinity of the spark plug 28, and the air-fuel ratio is distributed in the second region 462 around the first region 461. Indicates a state where a large air-fuel mixture is distributed. In this state, the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture in the first region 461 is about 12, and the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture in the second region 462 is about 20.

As shown in FIGS. 2 (B) and 2 (C), a dense (small air-fuel ratio) air-fuel mixture is distributed in the vicinity of the spark plug 28, and further, a lean (high air-fuel ratio) mixture is present around it. Combustion caused by igniting an air-fuel mixture in a state where air is distributed is called stratified combustion. In the present embodiment, combustion in a state where the air-fuel ratio is 14 or less is distributed in the first region 461 is defined as stratified combustion, but the present disclosure is not limited to this.

Further, in the present embodiment, the degree of stratification is defined as the degree to which the air-fuel mixture having an air-fuel ratio of 14 or less is distributed in the vicinity of the spark plug 28. That is, the lower the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture distributed in the vicinity of the spark plug 28, the higher the stratification degree. In addition, the stratification degree increases as the amount of the air-fuel ratio distributed in the vicinity of the spark plug 28 is 14 or less. Further, the stratification degree increases as the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture distributed in the first region 461 in the combustion chamber 46 is smaller than the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture distributed in the second region 462. Among the three states shown in FIG. 2, the state of FIG. 2 (A) has the smallest stratification degree of the mixture, and the state of FIG. 2 (A) has the largest stratification degree of the mixture.

Next, the relationship between the nitrogen oxide concentration acquired by the nitrogen oxide concentration acquisition unit 12 (see FIG. 1) and each factor that affects the nitrogen oxide concentration will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the nitrogen oxide concentration acquired by the nitrogen oxide concentration acquisition unit 12 includes the intake N ₂ concentration, the intake O ₂ concentration, the in-cylinder average air-fuel ratio, and the in-cylinder air-fuel ratio distribution. And the maximum combustion gas temperature.

Of these, the intake N ₂ concentration and the intake O ₂ concentration are the nitrogen concentration and oxygen concentration of the air taken from the outside of the vehicle. These values can be regarded as substantially constant regardless of the environment in which the vehicle travels. The in-cylinder air-fuel ratio distribution is the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber 46 acquired by the air-fuel ratio acquisition unit 11 (see FIG. 1). The maximum combustion gas temperature is the maximum temperature of the combustion gas in the combustion chamber 46 calculated by the combustion gas temperature calculation unit 15 (see FIG. 1). That is, the intake N ₂ concentration and the intake O ₂ concentration are known values, and the in-cylinder air-fuel ratio distribution and the combustion gas maximum temperature are values that can be acquired by the air-fuel ratio acquisition unit 11 and the combustion gas temperature calculation unit 15.

Here, the in-cylinder air-fuel ratio distribution that remains as a factor affecting the nitrogen oxide concentration is an index that correlates with the stratification degree of the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber 46. In other words, by removing the influence of each factor of the intake N ₂ concentration, the intake O ₂ concentration, the in-cylinder air-fuel ratio distribution, and the combustion gas maximum temperature from the nitrogen oxide concentration acquired by the nitrogen oxide concentration acquisition unit 12. In addition, the stratification degree of the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber 46 can be estimated.

The processing performed by the ECU 10 based on the above concept of stratification will be described with reference to FIGS. It should be noted that the processing executed by each part of the ECU 10 such as the air-fuel ratio acquisition unit 11 is actually executed by the ECU 10 for the sake of simplicity.

First, the ECU 10 starts executing the homogeneous combustion mode in S11 shown in FIG. That is, as shown in FIG. 2 (A), the amount of fuel injected by the injector 27, the injection timing, the number of injections, the pressure, etc., so that the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture is substantially uniform in the combustion chamber 46. The ignition energy of the spark plug 28, ignition timing, the number of times of ignition, etc. are adjusted as appropriate, and the air-fuel mixture is homogeneously combusted.

Next, the ECU 10 acquires the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber 46 in S12. In a state where the air-fuel mixture is homogeneously combusted in the combustion chamber 46, the air-fuel ratio acquisition unit 11 performs a predetermined calculation based on a signal received from the air-fuel ratio sensor 32 to acquire the air-fuel ratio.

Next, the ECU 10 acquires the nitrogen oxide concentration of the combustion gas flowing through the exhaust pipe 24 in S13. The nitrogen oxide concentration is acquired by performing a predetermined calculation based on a signal received from the NOx sensor 33 by the nitrogen oxide concentration acquisition unit 12 in a state in which the air-fuel mixture is homogeneously combusted in the combustion chamber 46. To do.

Next, in S14, the ECU 10 creates collation data and stores it in the storage unit 17 (see FIG. 1). The collation data is data indicating the relationship between the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture acquired in S12 and the nitrogen oxide concentration of the combustion gas calculated in S13, and is as shown in the graph shown in FIG. . The relationship between the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture and the nitrogen oxide concentration of the combustion gas may vary with individual differences of the engine 100, but in S14, collation data is created based on the actual behavior of the engine 100 By doing so, the influence of this variation can be eliminated.

Next, the ECU 10 starts executing the stratified combustion mode in S15. That is, the mode of combustion of the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber 46 is switched from the homogeneous combustion mode that has been executed so far to the stratified combustion mode. The stratified combustion mode can be executed after the collation data creation unit 14 creates collation data. The ECU 10 distributes the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber 46 in accordance with the traveling state of the vehicle as shown in FIGS. 2B and 2C, and the amount of fuel injected by the injector 27, the injection The fuel is burned by adjusting the timing, the number of injections, the pressure, the ignition energy of the spark plug 28, the ignition timing, the number of ignitions, and the like.

Next, the ECU 10 acquires the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber 46 in S16. In a state where the stratified combustion of the air-fuel mixture is performed in the combustion chamber 46, the air-fuel ratio acquisition unit 11 performs a predetermined calculation based on a signal received from the air-fuel ratio sensor 32, thereby acquiring the air-fuel ratio.

Next, the ECU 10 acquires the nitrogen oxide concentration of the combustion gas flowing through the exhaust pipe 24 in S17. The nitrogen oxide concentration is acquired by performing a predetermined calculation based on a signal received from the NOx sensor 33 by the nitrogen oxide concentration acquisition unit 12 in a state where the stratified combustion of the air-fuel mixture is performed in the combustion chamber 46. To do.

Next, the ECU 10 calculates the stratification degree of the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber 46 in S18. The calculation of the stratification degree is performed based on the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber 46 acquired in S16 and the nitrogen oxide concentration of the combustion gas flowing through the exhaust pipe 24 acquired in S17.

Here, the calculation method of the stratification degree of the air-fuel mixture in S18 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 6 and FIG.

As shown in FIG. 6, the ECU 10 collates the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber 46 acquired during execution of the stratified combustion mode with a table. The table is a table of the collation data created in S14 described above, and the nitrogen oxides of the combustion gas when the homogeneous combustion mode is executed at the air-fuel ratio by collating the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture. The concentration can be obtained. That is, here, if the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture obtained at the time of executing the stratified combustion mode is collated with the table, and the homogeneous combustion mode is executed at the air-fuel ratio, what is the nitrogen oxide concentration of the combustion gas? It can also be estimated. The ECU 10 calculates the difference (NOx concentration difference) between the nitrogen oxide concentration of the combustion gas obtained when the homogeneous combustion mode is executed and the nitrogen oxide gas of the combustion gas obtained when the stratified combustion mode is executed. To do.

Further, the ECU 10 acquires the correction coefficient by checking the temperature of the combustion gas in the cylinder 42 against the table. The ECU 10 calculates the correlation index by multiplying the above-described NOx concentration difference by this correction coefficient.

Furthermore, the ECU 10 can calculate the stratification degree of the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber 46 by collating this correlation index with a table. The table to be collated here has a NOx concentration difference and a stratification degree as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, the difference between the NOx concentration increases, that is, the difference between the nitrogen oxide concentration of the combustion gas when the homogeneous combustion mode is executed and the nitrogen oxide gas of the combustion gas when the stratified combustion mode is executed is large. As shown, the stratification degree of the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber 46 tends to increase.

Explanation will be made with reference to FIG. 5 again. After completing the calculation of the stratification in S18 of FIG. 5, the ECU 10 next adjusts the fuel injection in S19. That is, the ECU 10 adjusts the amount of fuel injected by the injector 27, the injection timing, the number of injections, and the pressure based on the stratification degree calculated in S18.

Next, the ECU 10 adjusts fuel ignition in S19. That is, the ECU 10 adjusts the ignition energy, ignition timing, number of ignitions, etc. of the spark plug 28 based on the stratification degree calculated in S18.

As described above, according to the ECU 10 according to the present embodiment, the stratification degree is estimated based on the nitrogen oxide concentration of the combustion gas discharged from the engine 100 as well as the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber 46. . That is, as a result of the stratified combustion, the nitrogen oxide concentration of the combustion gas may increase, and the ECU 10 estimates the stratification degree based on this nitrogen oxide concentration. Therefore, according to the present disclosure, it is possible to estimate the stratification degree with high accuracy.

In addition, the ECU 10 includes a pressure acquisition unit 13 that acquires the pressure in the combustion chamber 46 and a combustion gas temperature calculation unit 15 that calculates the temperature of the combustion gas based on the pressure in the combustion chamber 46. The stratification degree estimation unit 16 estimates the stratification degree based on the combustion gas temperature calculated by the combustion gas temperature calculation unit 15. As described above with reference to FIG. 4, the maximum temperature of the combustion gas is also a factor that affects the nitrogen oxide concentration of the combustion gas. Therefore, from the nitrogen oxide concentration acquired by the nitrogen oxide concentration acquisition unit 12, in addition to the influence of each factor of the intake N ₂ concentration, the intake O ₂ concentration, and the in-cylinder air-fuel ratio distribution, the influence of the combustion gas maximum temperature is also excluded. Thus, it becomes possible to estimate the stratification degree with higher accuracy.

Further, the ECU 10 performs a stratified combustion mode execution unit 18 that executes a stratified combustion mode in which the air-fuel mixture is combusted in a state where the stratification degree is equal to or greater than a threshold, and a homogeneous combustion mode in which the air-fuel mixture is combusted in a state where the stratification degree is less than the threshold A homogeneous combustion mode execution unit 19 for executing Further, the ECU 10 creates and stores collation data indicating the relationship between the air-fuel ratio acquired by the air-fuel ratio acquisition unit 11 and the nitrogen oxide concentration acquired by the nitrogen oxide concentration detection unit during execution of the homogeneous combustion mode. A collation data creation unit 14 to be stored in the unit 17. The stratification degree estimation unit 16 acquires the nitrogen oxide concentration obtained by collating the air-fuel ratio acquired by the air-fuel ratio acquisition unit 11 with the verification data during execution of the stratified combustion mode, and the nitrogen oxide concentration acquisition during execution of the stratified combustion mode. The stratification degree is estimated based on the difference between the nitrogen oxide concentration acquired by the unit 12. Therefore, according to the ECU 10, the collation data is created in the homogeneous combustion that can be performed relatively easily in the combustion chamber 46, and the stratification degree is estimated by using the collation data, so that the stratification can be performed with higher accuracy. The degree can be estimated.

Also, the stratified combustion mode execution unit 18 can execute the stratified combustion mode after the verification data creation unit 14 creates the verification data. Therefore, since the collation data is created and the stratified combustion mode is executed after the situation in which the stratification degree of the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber 46 can be accurately estimated, the stratification degree can be maintained at an appropriate value. .

The embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above with reference to specific examples. However, the present disclosure is not limited to these specific examples. That is, those specific examples modified by appropriate design by those skilled in the art are also included in the scope of the present disclosure as long as they have the features of the present disclosure. Each element included in each of the specific examples described above and their arrangement, material, condition, shape, size, and the like are not limited to those illustrated, and can be appropriately changed.

Although the present disclosure has been described with reference to the embodiments, it is understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments and structures. The present disclosure includes various modifications and modifications within the equivalent range. In addition, various combinations and forms, as well as other combinations and forms including only one element, more or less, are within the scope and spirit of the present disclosure.

Claims

An internal combustion engine (100) having an injector (27) for directly injecting fuel into a combustion chamber (46) of a cylinder (42), and an ignition plug (28) for igniting an air-fuel mixture containing fuel injected by the injector ) Control device (10),
An air-fuel ratio acquisition unit (11) for acquiring the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber;
A nitrogen oxide concentration acquisition unit (12) for acquiring the nitrogen oxide concentration of the combustion gas discharged from the internal combustion engine;
A stratification degree estimation unit (16) for estimating a stratification degree that is a degree that an air-fuel mixture having a predetermined air-fuel ratio or less is distributed in the vicinity of the spark plug;
The stratification degree estimation unit is a control device that estimates the stratification degree based on the air-fuel ratio acquired by the air-fuel ratio acquisition unit and the nitrogen oxide concentration acquired by the nitrogen oxide concentration acquisition unit.
A pressure acquisition unit (13) for acquiring the pressure in the combustion chamber;
A combustion gas temperature calculation unit (15) for calculating the temperature of the combustion gas based on the pressure in the combustion chamber,
The control device according to claim 1, wherein the stratification degree estimation unit estimates the stratification degree based on the temperature of the combustion gas calculated by the combustion gas temperature calculation unit.
A stratified combustion mode execution unit (18) for executing a stratified combustion mode in which the air-fuel mixture is burned in a state where the stratification degree is equal to or greater than a threshold;
A homogeneous combustion mode execution unit (19) for executing a homogeneous combustion mode in which the air-fuel mixture is burned in a state where the stratification degree is less than the threshold value;
A collation data creation unit that creates collation data indicating the relationship between the air-fuel ratio acquired by the air-fuel ratio acquisition unit and the nitrogen oxide concentration acquired by the nitrogen oxide concentration acquisition unit during execution of the homogeneous combustion mode ( 14)
The stratification degree estimation unit includes a nitrogen oxide concentration obtained by collating the air-fuel ratio acquired by the air-fuel ratio acquisition unit during execution of the stratified combustion mode with the verification data, and the nitrogen oxide during execution of the stratified combustion mode. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the stratification degree is estimated based on a difference from the nitrogen oxide concentration acquired by the oxide concentration acquisition unit.
The control device according to claim 3, wherein the stratified combustion mode execution unit is capable of executing the stratified combustion mode after the verification data generation unit generates the verification data.